


Again?!

by hotchocolatedictator



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Humor, Nine meets Donna, Sassy, background Nine/Jack, barely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24918016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotchocolatedictator/pseuds/hotchocolatedictator
Summary: The Doctor is confused.Donna is unimpressed.There’s no way this could go wrong...
Relationships: Ninth Doctor & Donna Noble, Tenth Doctor & Donna Noble
Kudos: 50





	Again?!

**Author's Note:**

> Technically my first attempts at writing either (any!) of these characters. Hope it’s ok, and enjoy!

The Doctor would be the first to admit that he’d seen some weird things on his travels. From tourist attractions, like the pink Singing Mountains of Straotis, to the room full of a glutinous substance, which he’d never discovered the name of (he must remember to go back and find out some day), in a warehouse in a lesser-known corner of Geuthea II, to a certain Captain Jack Harkness roaming the TARDIS in the bare minimum of clothing (the Doctor had quite enjoyed the last one, but eventually he’d had to tell Jack to put something on before Rose saw him), the Doctor had seen it all.

An angry redhead appearing in his TARDIS and immediately yelling at him, however, was new.

He’d just landed in South London, and Rose had taken Jack to meet her mum (the Doctor had turned down the offer to join them with a shudder and several vague excuses). In his companions’ absence, he’d been planning to do a bit of repair work. Right up until the woman appeared in a shimmer of golden light.

‘Again? Really?!’

The Doctor remembered to shut his mouth, opened it again to ask what that meant exactly, and almost instantly regretted it.

‘And who d’you think you are?’

‘Was about to ask you the same thing.’

The redhead sniffed before replying, sounding only slightly less angry than before. ‘Donna Noble. Now, what’ve you done with the Doctor, and how’d you get in his TARDIS?’

Ah. Someone from his future then. He should probably explain clearly, concisely and reassuringly, calming Donna down and avoiding too many spoilers.

‘I am the Doctor.’

So much for that.

‘No you aren’t. The Doctor’s a skinny bloke with ridiculous hair.’

‘I am!’

‘Prove it!’

The Doctor had never had to prove his identity to angry women from his future before, although clearly he should’ve thought to prepare for that. He dithered for a moment, decided against psychic paper (he had a feeling that if he tried, Donna would start yelling again) and almost instinctively began to talk.

‘My name is the Doctor. I’m a 900 year old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the Kasterbourous galaxy.’ He tried not to wince as he automatically, unthinkingly mentioned Gallifrey, and hoped Donna didn’t notice. ‘Ringing any bells?’

From the look Donna was giving him, it clearly wasn’t.

‘Saviour of hundreds of planets and species,’ but not the one that mattered most, ‘the Oncoming Storm?’

Still nothing.

‘Travelling with my friends, Jack and Rose.’

‘Oh! Rose!’

The Doctor would never admit to sighing in relief when Donna stopped glaring at him.

‘Why d’you look all… different?’

Donna gestured vaguely at his face.

The Doctor opened his mouth again, wondering if he’d get through his speech without being interrupted, and began to explain regeneration.

‘Us Time Lords have a trick…’

-

‘What did you mean, again?’ The Doctor asked, once Donna was finally satisfied with his answers.

‘Huh?’

‘When you first arrived, you said again, as if this happened before.’

‘Well it did, didn’t it? That’s how I met you,’ Donna replied, sounding as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. ‘Turned up in here on my wedding day, got kidnapped by robo-Santas, and then it turned out alien spiders had been feeding me huon thingies so they could take over the world.’

The Doctor wasn’t quite quick enough at hiding his bewildered expression, and Donna managed to catch it.

‘Who knows more now, spaceman?’ She smirked.

The Doctor decided a lecture on why she shouldn’t have told him  _ any  _ of that would be far more trouble than it was worth.

‘Huon particles?’

‘That’s what you said.’

The Doctor muttered a silent apology to Jack and Rose, promising himself he’d be back before they even noticed he’d gone. Then he turned to the console and began to press buttons and levers.

‘Oi! Where’re we going?’ Donna asked, an already-too-familiar annoyed expression on her face.

‘To find out what’s going on.’

-

The TARDIS materialised outside a London office block, the sign proclaiming that the company was H.C. Clements. The building itself, however, had an abandoned feeling to it. The Doctor began to ask if Donna knew why they were there, of all places (phrasing it, of course, so it sounded like he’d  _ meant  _ to take them there, rather than the TARDIS sending him wherever he needed to be). Before he could finish the first word, Donna had already started answering.

‘This is where the spider things were last time.’

He raised an eyebrow at her.

‘Any more details on the spider things?’

She paused, trying to remember.

‘They called themselves something… rapnoss or dabcoss, that sort of thing.’

The Doctor looked at her in an equal mix of amazement and horror.

‘The Racnoss?’

‘That’s it!’ Donna exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

‘In that case,’ the Doctor muttered as the two of them walked into the building, ‘this is not good at all.’

-

Donna didn’t give the Doctor a chance to discover the secret floor for himself, instead leading him straight into the lift and stopping his protests before they had properly started. Upon reaching their destination, the two wandered down a mile or two of tunnels, Donna making a comment about Segways that the Doctor didn’t quite understand.

Eventually they found the lab, and the Doctor was instantly lost to the contraptions and experiments whirring and bubbling in front of them. Donna gave him five minutes, making vague noises of agreement as he commented on each object's rarity, uses, and, invariably, faults. Then she cleared her throat pointedly.

‘Found what you’re looking for yet, spaceman?’

The Doctor glanced up.

‘Almost as soon as we entered the room. But Donna, look at this…’

Donna rolled her eyes.

‘So, are you planning on telling me what it is?’

‘You landin’ in the TARDIS? Just some residual particles, that’s all. Be gone in a month or two. This technology, though… if the Racnoss can do this, it’s a lot worse than I thought.’

The Doctor paused for a second, as if in thought, before turning back towards the tunnel they’d come from. Donna hurried to keep up.

‘Where’re we going now?’

‘Back to the TARDIS. Few things I’ll need to check, and Jack and Rose’ll never forgive me if I leave them behind.’

‘Could you drop me off, then?’

The Doctor turned to look at her.

‘What?’

‘At home,’ Donna replied, her tone suggesting it was the most obvious thing in the world, ‘I’ve had enough alien malarkey for one day.’

‘I’m in a bit of a hurry, Rose wouldn’t have any problems setting her mother on me if I’m not there,’ the Doctor said, ‘how’s South London for you?’

-

‘See ya around, spaceman,’ Donna grinned as the two of them stood in the TARDIS.

‘Looking forward to meeting you,’ the Doctor gave an answering grin.

‘You better be!’ Donna called as she walked out, almost bumping into Jack and Rose on their way in.

‘Who’s that, then?’ Jack asked, eyebrows raised.

‘Donna. From my future, apparently.’

The Doctor twisted a couple of knobs on the console.

‘Now, who’s heard of the Racnoss?’

-

They’re walking in a garden on a planet Donna can’t remember the name of when she mentions it.

‘I met a bloke who said he was you once.’

‘Really?’ The look the Doctor gives her is interested, and perhaps slightly surprised, but not at all disbelieving.

‘Yeah. Big ears, leather jacket. Said you can do a thing called regeneration.’

‘Ah, my last self.’ The Doctor now looks like he understands everything.

‘If it was your last self, how come you didn’t recognise me the first time we met?’ Donna, however, is only gaining more questions.

‘I must have wiped my memory. Made myself forget the incident.’

‘Why’d you do that?’ Donna asks incredulously.

‘Probably to get rid of any spoilers.’ He grins at her. ‘Life’s no fun if you already know exactly what’s coming.’

Donna, however, has fixated on something else.

‘You forgot me?’

The Doctor shrugs.

‘Clearly.’

She hits his arm in mock outrage.

‘How could you? I’m unforgettable!’

The two of them chuckle at that, before the Doctor replies.

‘That you are, Donna Noble…’

**Author's Note:**

> Managed to make myself sad over my own writing... and this was meant to be a bit of humour!  
> Thanks for reading! Kudos, comments and concrit are welcome


End file.
